LeoLabs has built a transportable radar system called Scout-S, a shipping-container-sized unit that can be set up almost anywhere in a matter of hours using just a generator and a Starlink connection. The system is designed to monitor the rapidly growing number of satellites and debris fragments in low Earth orbit, which has swelled from roughly 2,000 objects in 2019 to nearly 17,000 today, with Starlink accounting for most of that growth.
cnet.com
· 2026-09-18
NASA has expanded its Commercial Crew Transportation Capability contract with SpaceX, adding three additional crewed Dragon missions to the International Space Station through 2030. The new award is worth up to $946 million and brings SpaceX's total operational flights under the contract to 17, pushing its cumulative earnings from NASA to $5.92 billion. SpaceX shares ISS crew transport duties with Boeing, whose Starliner is set to begin crewed flights in 2027 after an unpiloted test flight.
cnbc.com
· 2026-09-18
The FAA plans to launch SMART, a cloud-based AI system built by Air Space Intelligence, in the Washington, DC air corridor next week as the start of a phased nationwide rollout. The tool analyzes flight schedules, weather, and airport capacity to give airlines and controllers a shared view of traffic flow and potential conflicts, and was developed under an $875 million FAA grant.
techspot.com
· 2026-09-18
The United States government has, for the first time, publicly acknowledged that it has deployed weapons systems in space. Officials confirmed the existence of these orbital assets after years of speculation and denial, marking a shift in how openly Washington discusses its military space capabilities.
news.slashdot.org
· 2026-09-18
At the first International Space Summit in Paris on September 10, European leaders including Ursula von der Leyen and Emmanuel Macron called for the continent to build its own launch and crewed spaceflight capacity rather than relying on NASA and firms like SpaceX. The event took on added significance after reports that the White House discouraged US companies such as SpaceX and Blue Origin from attending, which one former satellite executive called a wake-up call.
nature.com
· 2026-09-18
The FAA plans to roll out SMART, a cloud-based AI platform built by Air Space Intelligence, to help air traffic controllers manage workflows and flight routing amid an ongoing staffing shortage. The system analyzes airline schedules, weather, airport capacity and airspace conditions to predict traffic flows and flag potential conflicts before they happen, at a cost of $875 million over 12 years, starting in the Washington, D.C. area before wider rollout.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-09-17
At back-to-back defense conferences this week, top US military leaders including Air Force Secretary Troy Meink, Gen. Douglas Schiess, and Space Command's Gen. Stephen Whiting publicly confirmed for the first time that the US has fielded operational space control weapons meant to defend military and national interests from hostile action in orbit. None of them disclosed what the weapons are, whether they target objects in space or on Earth, or how long they've been in use, and officials pointed to China and Russia as the reason for going public now.
cnet.com
· 2026-09-17
A ZDNET reviewer cautions that although many power stations are technically capable of powering large appliances like central air conditioning, electric water heaters, space heaters, and ovens, doing so isn't advisable during outages. The concern is that these heat-producing and high-draw devices can rapidly deplete a power station's limited battery capacity, undermining its usefulness as backup power.
zdnet.com
· 2026-09-16
US Space Force chief Gen. Douglas Schiess stated publicly that Guardians currently operate weapons in orbit capable of defending against space-based attacks, though he gave no specifics on the systems involved. He illustrated the claim with an anecdote about an operator called 'Specialist Gray' who allegedly used electromagnetic warfare against an adversary during a missile alert.
futurism.com
· 2026-09-16
Air Force Secretary Troy Meink stated at the Air, Space and Cyber Conference that the US has placed weapons in orbit capable of defending against hostile action, without detailing what these systems are. This marks the first open US acknowledgment of orbital weapons deployment after decades of officially framing space activity as peaceful.
techspot.com
· 2026-09-16
In a first-person account, former NASA astronaut Charlie Precourt describes commanding Space Shuttle Atlantis through its final descent after a 10-day mission delivering supplies and a new crew to the Russian Mir station. He details disengaging the autopilot near Mach 1 at 45,000 feet and relying on mission pilot Eileen Collins' scripted calls to guide the unpowered glider to a precise touchdown at Kennedy Space Center.
inspire.eaa.org
· 2026-09-16
NASA says a precise SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch and flawless early course correction have left the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope with enough propellant for at least 22 years of operations, more than double the mission's original five-year baseline plan. The $4.3 billion observatory launched August 30 from Kennedy Space Center and is now heading to its observation post to survey wide swaths of the sky with Hubble-level resolution.
arstechnica.com
· 2026-09-15
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